'Tis the Season. The End of School Season, which I simultaneously mourn and applaud.

Mourn because, hello, I work from home and having multiple people around who are not on a deadline lends itself to a new, fresh hell. Applaud because, hello, that 5:20 wake up is getting more and more ridiculous and I long for nothing more than a sleep in until 7 or even - gasp! - 7:30.

Which is just a fallacy, because even on the weekends, I manage to wake myself up before 6 every single stupid day. But! Hope springs eternal, yes?

AND. We've made it an entire year without packing one sandwich - unless you count the Uncrustables I bought on a whim one week - and I'm curious to see if I can make it the last month without pulling out the bread and soy butter/peanut butter. (This was a goal I set for myself, because I am clearly stupid, the night before the first day of school - that bright and shiny day in which everything seems!so!awesome!)

The smallest of the Masses are out of school sometime in that first week of June - I'm not totally positive because it's not the last week of school and so I'm not stressing it yet. The High Schoolers go until mid June.

End of school when your kids play instruments/are in the band/go to performing arts school means that your May is full of the awesomeness that is performance after performance. And I'm not bragging - ok, I am, but whatever, I can brag about this, not because I had a hand in it or anything -

but my kids are musically talented. They really are. Two of my kids are in Performing Arts school - one for tuba, one for opera (yes, a 17 year old sings opera in French, Italian, German, and of course, English) - and my younger two are in the school band for elementary/middle - and the middle school student is said to be talented, and plays up a level for French Horn.

I dunno. I'm just the driver.

Last weekend was The Marriage of Figaro opera - my kid was Barbarina - and that capped off two weeks of tech. The opera was four shows, Friday - Monday.

This week, 3 of the kids had a show on Tuesday night, and again on Wednesday night. Thursday is a daytime band concert, and the high school kid has a concert at night. Friday is another concert. We also have performance placement exams in these two weeks, which determine next year's positions in performing arts school. (I'm not sure how these work, but I'm super happy I don't have to participate. Just listen to the practices.)

Then THE LONG WEEKEND. Glory, praise and hallelujah!

The next week is more rehearsals, and the big Orchestra Concert on June 1 and June 2.

Last night, as I sat in the audience for the elementary and middle school band, I heard the same basic songs that I've heard for years and years. (My oldest two were in elementary and middle band, years and years ago.) The same songs were played, and I remembered sitting in the audience struggling with crabby babies while Big Brother played.

Learning that first, 5 note scale is always the hardest. Master it, and the world is ahead of you, gleaming and imperfect, full of light and sound.

I remember my opera student doing a show in middle school, and the teacher told her, "You aren't as talented as you think you are, and definitely not as talented as your mom thinks you are" - and I super want to go shake that teacher.

Because.

There's talent here, and I can see it, one show at a time. Each and every show is just a little bit better, a little more focused, a bit more polished - and the progress, it's there.

Just because I'm in need of something fun and interesting, and I'd wager to think that most of you are as well.

List the last couple of songs that you downloaded. If you don't download songs, what was the last CD you bought? (If you didn't buy CDs, please don't tell me that you bought a record or cassette or an 8 track. Although, my daughter bought a record player at a thrift store, and it's her favorite purchase.)

I know, I have no life. But it got me thinking - what are your favorite holiday songs? On my (deceased) iPod, I have a playlist for Christmas. Here are the songs on it - and, yes, I AM a little bit nuts about Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Their live show? AMAZING.

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About Me

Carmen Staicer is a whirlwind of energy and execution, who never sleeps and drinks way too much coffee. She works from home as Social Media Programs Manager for SheKnows, and is the mom to six kids, most of whom play instruments, sing or dance and all of whom are much smarter than she will ever be. In other words, her house is never ever quiet or still. A concentration of asthma, food allergies, spectrum disorders and learning disabilities means that she spends an awful lot of time second guessing herself and Dr. Googling, as well as learning to cook everything the family might like to eat. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, boxing (she has her Black Belt in Muay Thai), sleeping, exploring coffee shops, photography, ballet class and cooking. She excels in being a smart mouth and has her major in sarcasm, with a dual minor in BS studies and avoiding laundry.